Apple today released the latest beta for its upcoming iOS 6 mobile operating system. Although iOS 6 doesn’t make any huge leaps forward visually or productivity wise, the operating system has caught quite a bit of attention for what it lacks.

IOS 6 marks the first release of the operating system that doesn’t come preloaded with Google Maps. Instead, Apple kicked Google to the curb and included its own mapping service (which is actually not as functionally complete as Google Maps on many fronts).

Next, Apple passive aggressively removed the name “Google” from the search field in Safari, which signified that Google was powering search results (iOS also includes search options for Bing and Yahoo).

Now, Apple has taken the next step in ridding itself of Google’s “hooks” into iOS. In iOS 6 Beta 4, Apple has removed the YouTube app from the Springboard. The YouTube app has been featured on iOS ever since the iPhone’s introduction in 2007.

According to The Verge, this is what Apple has to say on the matter:

Our license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended, customers can use YouTube in the Safari browser and Google is working on a new YouTube app to be on the App Store.

At least iOS users can rest assured that YouTube will continue to function normally through Safari. In addition, Google is working on a standalone Maps app that will be available in the App Store and should reintroduce the features that Apple stripped from its own mapping app with iOS 6.

The neutered GMaps that Apple allows Google to feature was one of the worst limitations of the iPhone IMO. The turn by turn naviagation requires you to contantly click next as you go, talk about unsafe and inconvinient. I was an iPhone user for 4 years and I am glad to be rid of it, the Gmaps app on Android ICS is leagues ahead of IOS version.

Either way I think Apple is making a mistake pushing popular premier apps off of their device in favor of clearly inferrior alternatives. Reeks of arrogance.

"This is about the Internet. Everything on the Internet is encrypted. This is not a BlackBerry-only issue. If they can't deal with the Internet, they should shut it off." -- RIM co-CEO Michael Lazaridis